Walk On Water Or Drown
by Valkyriye
Summary: Year 2068: America is at war with Russia. One squad has the chance to tip the scales, but first they need a new leader. Join the Titans for a new adventure in the Navy SEALS. Military AU, updated every Sunday.
1. A Shot Across The Bow

Hello! Welcome to Walk On Water Or Drown. This is a military AU centered around our favorite titans and what they'd be like in the American military. This will be updated once a week on Sundays, give or take.

Quick disclaimer, I don't work in the military or have expertise. Don't take this as what the actual American military/armed forces is like. This is purely fiction. I do not own the Teen Titans at all. Without further adieu, enjoy!

* * *

Being called into Commander Adams' office was either really good, or really bad. Richard Grayson kept that in his mind as he walked down the long corridor to the plain door that had a simple 'Adams, Harley' imprinted on it. His trainer, Bruce Wayne, had a similar door. They all seemed to look the same in the Navy SEALS headquarters. Richard took a deep breath before knocking on the solid wood door. "Enter." A voice carried from the room.

You wouldn't know it from the plain door, but Commander Adams' office was as high tech as they come. A large, high definition television hung behind a large, mahogany desk on which sat a large, touch screen desktop computer that probably had more memory than all the computers and phones in the facility. "Sit down, Grayson." Adams spoke as he typed. Richard took a seat in the black leather chair. It was comfortable, but made noise every time he moved. He patiently awaited Adams to be finished with what he was doing. After another minute, Adams stopped typing and looked Richard dead in the eye. "I've been observing you very carefully, Grayson." He took a sip of coffee. Black. "Wayne came and spoke to me about you getting your own squad, and I think it's high time that happened."

Richard, internally jumping for joy, kept his exterior collected. "I am deeply honored, Commander." Copy-pasted replies were traditional when speaking to authority, and Adams was a traditional man.

"Great." Adams inputted a code onto his computer. "Let me introduce you to your team." The TV behind him flickered to life and a slideshow began playing. "Your first squad member is from Harlem, New York. Worked his way up after an accident in high school caused his leg and arm to require amputation. He's a techie and specially engineered his prosthetics to act as normal limbs and much more." A man appeared on the screen. He was a muscular, black man whose arm and leg were obvious prosthetics. "Victor Stone. Codename: Cyborg. Age: 27. His specialties include vanguard combat, his technologically enhanced limbs, and a PhD in engineering and mechanics. Basically, if you want something made, repaired or enhanced, he's your man." A video played, showing Victor holding his own against 20 armed men.

"Your next squad member is a foreigner." Adams stopped the video of Victor. "She's from Haiti. Moved to America at age 22. She's our best female fighter." A tall woman appeared on the screen. She had extremely tan skin and long, red hair. Her eyes were vibrant green and she had very defined muscles. "Koraline Anderson. Codename: Starfire. Age: 26. Her specialties include vanguard combat, short ranged weaponry and superior strength." A video played of her clearing the Navy's hardest obstacle course without so much as breaking a sweat.

"Your next one is one we were suspicious of for a while, but all background checks have proven the she is trustworthy, along with her previous experience and vigilante work. She's from Russia. Siberia, to be exact. Moved here at age 8 after family unrest led to her being smuggled out of Russia." A shorter woman appeared. She was pale, deathly pale. She had short, spiked black hair that had purple and white dye along the bangs, as well as bright blue eyes that were very enrapturing. "Rachel Roth. Codename: Raven. Age: 26. Her specialties are mostly rearguard combat. She's an explosives expert and our best sniper. She'll also serve as your team's emergency doctor, being a former surgeon." A video played of Rachel aiming down the barrel of a sniper, hitting multiple moving targets with perfect accuracy.

"And last but not least.." Adams clicked to the next slide. "He's from Africa, specifically South Africa. Parents were scientists and died when he was 8, which led him to be moved back here by a vigilante group known as the Doom Patrol." A short man appeared on the screen. He had rusty brown hair and dark green eyes. He was skinny, but he still had build. "Garfield Logan. Codename: Changeling. Age: 24. His specialties are rearguard combat. He's an expert sleuth and probably the best stealth soldier we've seen. He's not bad with a gun, but he prefers blunt weaponry such as knifes and mallets." A video showed him taking out multiple targets on a combat course with just two knives on his own.

The slideshow concluded as Adams turned to face Richard again. "So, what are your thoughts?"

Richard cleared his throat. "They seem to be the best of the best, why are you asking me to lead them?"

Adams looked Richard dead in the eye. "Because I think you're the only one who can handle them." Richard didn't have time to ask about that before a door off to the side opened. Out walked the four soldiers he had just seen on the slideshow. Only Rachel seemed to notice Richard in the room. "So, are you our new leader?" She asked in a monotonous tone. She was more condescending than she had seemed in the slideshow, and her eyes seemed to be looking right through Richard, seeing everything he had to hide.

"New?" Richard asked, confused. Adams simply waved the issue away and exited the office, leaving Richard to talk to his new squad.

Victor and Koraline were talking animatedly about nothing in particular, and still hadn't noticed Richard. The same could be said about Garfield, who was desperately trying to get Rachel's attention. "C'mon, Rae!" Garfield spoke. He had a childish voice for an adult. "I'll get you to smile eventually. You'll see!" Rachel rolled her eyes, muttered something about "Ra-_chel_" and let her bangs fall in front of her right eye.

Koraline seemed to finally notice Richard. "Oh, you are our new leader!" She exclaimed, rushing in front of him. Richard stood, as to be at eye level with the woman. Well, _almost_ eye level. She was a lot taller than she seemed in the slideshow. Her voice was very cheerful, too. "It's very nice to meet you!" She shook Richard's hand exuberantly.

Victor walked up to Richard after Koraline finished her greeting. "So, you're Richard!" He said. His voice was deep and he was much less intimidating than he seemed in the slideshow. "I'm Victor, I'm the smart one." He started to point out each of the squad members. "That's Gar, he's the funny one. That's Rachel, she's the serious one. That's Kory, she's the nice one. So, which one are you?"

Richard gulped. All the eyes were on him now. "Uh," he thought for a moment. "The cool one?"

Victor waited a minute before laughing. Koraline smiled brightly while Garfield gave Richard a thumbs up. Rachel simply gave him a nod of acceptance, her face unchanging. Victor gave Richard a pat on the back. "We're gonna get along just fine!"


	2. Miserable At Best

Welcome back to Walk On Water Or Drown! I don't have much to say about this, just that you'll all get a little more insight into the war soon. Here's a glimpse of the cause, though. Updated every Sunday!

- That'd be great! I'd love to make this as accurate as possible (with some artistic liberties, obviously) so if you have a FF account and can private message me, that'd be great!

I don't own the Teen Titans and all military procedures are fictional and in no way is supposed to be used as a guide to actual military stuff.

* * *

"Being as this is the twentieth attempt to match you four to a leader, we will call you Squad T." Adams announced to the newly formed squad. "If you make it through the months, you can register your own name." He signaled for the five soldiers to follow him out of the office. He led them down the long corridors to the training wing of the facility. The halls were filled with doors that led to swimming pools, armories and other training facilities. "I want to see how you work in battle under your new leadership. You'll be using the virtual equipment to fight AI soldiers. I'll give you twenty minutes to sort out tactics and positions." Adams gestured to a conference room, to which Squad T entered and prompted closed the door.

Rachel was the first to speak. "What's your plan, _leader_?" She spoke condescendingly. Richard could only assume that she hadn't completely accepted him yet. Garfield, Koraline and Victor were giving him similar looks of anticipation. He seemed to pass their social test, but now they wanted to see him pass the field test.

"I'm sure there's more to your skill sets than what was highlighted in the videos." Richard started. He opened a pamphlet that Adams had given him. It showed pictures of the area they were to fight in. Richard noticed that it was a dark warehouse with no upper floors, windows or doors. The only light seemed to come from a few working fluorescent ceiling lights. "Rachel, there aren't any viable areas for you to snipe. What else can you do?"

Rachel glanced over the pamphlet to confirm Richard's woes. "I'm experienced with shoguns and light machine guns." She stated flattly, tossing the pamphlet onto the table. "I'll probably need cover as ground fighting is a weakness of mine."

Richard simply nodded. "Victor, I want you to stay by Rachel and keep her covered." Richard turned to Koraline and Garfield. "You two will fight side by side. Koraline, I want you to cover Garfield so he can get close with some knives. I'll cover you." Richard turned to Rachel again after a confirming nod from the pair. "At your discretion, set explosives on the walls. Your choice which kind but keep us informed and away from the blast. Victor, cover her."

Rachel nodded. Victor glanced warily at Rachel, who shot a worried glanced back at him. They both knew that ground fighting wasn't _just_ a weakness of Rachel's, it was a fear. She had no problem watching them, but being in the fight itself was terrifying. She was grateful that Richard had chosen Victor to cover her. Koraline and Garfield didn't know about her fear.

Rachel remembered when Victor had found out about her fear. It was on their third attempt to get a leader and the first time she was faced with a situation where she had to be in the fight itself. The fight had gone horribly and the leader she couldn't even remember the name of was dismissed. The fight's downturn was her fault, and she felt slight guilt about it. She had been freaked out by the sudden influx of soldiers attacking her and failed to cover Garfield, which caused him to fall. Koraline had tried to help Garfield, which left her open to attacks. Back in their squad tower, Victor had came to her room asking about the fight. After an arduous effort on his part, Rachel confessed.

When she was seven, shortly before a small group of pacifists smuggled her to Alaska, a Polish rebel group attack her town, yelling, "Zabij dzieci! Do buntu!" _Kill the children! For the rebellion! _Even at 26, it still gave her shivers. Her mother, Arella Rodin, had been in Moscow for the week visiting her father, whom Rachel still didn't know the identity of. A rebel had found her hiding in the closet of her small home. Rachel was paralyzed as his disturbing smile grew wider. As she braced for death, the rebel was dead. Shot right in the head by a Russian soldier. The soldier tried to lead Rachel out of the town, but they were separated in the streets where the fighting between the Polish rebels and the Russian soldiers was intensifying. The gunshots were deafening and she was unable to move, favoring the option of kneeling down on the battlefield, covering her ears and hoping it was be over soon. The few minutes that her eyes were screwed shut were agonizingly long, though soon she felt a force lift her up and take her behind the Russian line. She didn't remember what happened after that, but nightmares of that day still haunted her nineteen years later.

Victor had listened carefully and comforted her as she cried. That marked the first time anyone had seen her cry since she came to America. "You know German, right?" Victor had asked that day. Rachel had nodded, stating that she knew many languages from her tutors in Russia. Language was art, her mother had said when Rachel was young. Victor had went from teammate to brother that day. "In the field, if you're getting too scared, yell "Sie kommen" and I'll come as fast as I can." Rachel found solace in that promise. Victor hadn't spoken a word about it to Koraline or Garfield, and Rachel hadn't needed to yell any German yet.

Rachel was pulled back to reality when Richard slammed the pamphlet back down on the long table. "We're ready." He stated. Garfield and Koraline followed Richard out of the room. Rachel was about to follow when Victor grabbed her arm. He nodded, confidence in his eyes. Rachel nodded back, exuding the courage she didn't feel.

* * *

So I wanted to get into all of the squad's backstories, and we start with Rachel. This is only a glimpse, but there's also hints of how the war starts in it.

You'll get some action in the next chapter, but I have a question. Do you want me to make the chapters longer? I've always had the habit of making short chapters, but I can lengthen them if people want me to.

The next chapter, When I Get Home You're So Dead, will come out next week!


	3. The Silence

The squad moved through the various halls of the training wing. They walked in silence, though Garfield noticed that Rachel was tense. It wasn't often that the raven haired sniper was tense, though Garfield could tell the signs of when she was. They were subtle things, things he wouldn't pick up on had he not lived with her over the past few months. It entailed a slight crinkle of her nose, the minuscule scrunching of her eyebrows and a small tremble in her step. He noticed how she walked closer to Victor in the back of the group when she usually walked in front to lead the way. Maybe she was accepting Richard as their leader? Maybe she was giving up the temporary leadership she had over them? Gar didn't know, but he was worried about her. Though, he'd never tell her that or bring it up. The one thing Rachel hated more than him was being fawned over.

Though she didn't mind when Victor did it. Garfield couldn't explain it, but somewhere along the way those two seemed to have developed some unspoken language. Gar was never one to lie to himself about his feelings: he was jealous. It upset him that Rachel had shut him out yet Victor seemed to easily connect to her on some personal level. Gar had made it a point to get close to Koraline and Victor. He knew about Koraline's life in Haiti and Victor had told him all about the accident that people thought would leave him incapacitated. Yet he knew nothing of Rachel besides the standard things he was shown in a video when the higher-ups had joined them into a group.

Before Gar had time to ponder how to go about achieving that friendship with Rachel, the squad had arrived in the AI Virtual Simulation Room. As they entered, Adams' voice sounded from the adjacent control room. "You're early." His voice sounded much like a principal's on a PA speaker in high school. "Fifteen minutes early. Are you sure you're ready?" Richard simply nodded towards the window that allowed those in the control room to view the AI participants. Gar took a minute to look around the room. Nothing had changed since he was in here a few weeks ago with Potential Leader #19. The room was still a bright white with no decoration. It was dull and only had a long row of AI systems that the squad was to sit in to leave for their simulation. Gar approached one of the system. It was a simple chair that had a touch screen sticking out of one of the arms. Above the chair was a helmet that stopped his brain from making his real body move. Gar didn't understand the technicalities of it. He just knew that if he moved in the simulation, he didn't move in real life.

Gar sat down in the chair and looked around to notice the other four soldiers doing the same. The chair wasn't comfortable. It was as hard as a school desk chair. The touch screen flickered to life and Gar began choosing his weapons from the system. It was much like one of the first person shooter games he had played when he was in high school. After making his selection, he looked over to see that everyone except Rachel had finished.

Rachel was still swiping through guns and explosives. She wasn't a ground fighter. She shouldn't be ground fighting. _I can't do this why did I agree to this oh my God-_ Her mind was racing as she simply stalled time by swiping through the seemingly endless weapons list. After another moment of feeling four pairs of eyes intensely staring at her, waiting for her to finish, she settled on her choices and prepared for the simulation to begin. She looked over to her sides before the helmet started descending upon them. Garfield was looking at her. He appeared.. _concerned?_ That can't be the right word. She looked away before she could be considered staring. The helmets were beginning to descend and as soon as the helmet fully engulfed her head, she felt the world go black for a moment.

* * *

I am really sorry for the huge delay and short chapter. A few things came up and I couldn't work on anything! Here's a little filler before the big test fight. Expect the action in the next chapter!


End file.
